World News Quick Take

Agencies

UNITED STATES

Shootout ends confrontation

Four people, including an armed suspect, died in an incident that culminated in an hours-long standoff with police on Saturday at a residence in a Colorado town, authorities said. The shootings occurred about 6.4km southeast of the Aurora Mall, where 12 people were killed and dozens wounded by a gunman at a midnight showing of the Batman film The Dark Knight Rises on July 20. An Aurora Police Department special weapons team responded after shots were heard at the home at 3am, Aurora police sergeant Cassidee Carlson said. Investigators said three people, all adults, appeared to have been killed before officers arrived. The suspect shot at police at 8:15am and was killed during a shootout when officers stormed the home about 45 minutes later, Carlson said. It was not known if the police officers shot the suspect or if he shot himself. A fifth person escaped unharmed before the authorities arrived. The sergeant declined to elaborate on the woman’s escape. The motive for the killings is not yet known.

UNITED STATES

Oscars to honor Bond

Oscar will not be the only chiseled man in the spotlight at the 85th Academy Awards. Producers say the show will feature a celebration of Bond, James Bond. Craig Zadan and Neil Meron on Friday announced that the film awards show will pay tribute to the 50th anniversary of the James Bond film franchise. They call it “the longest-running motion picture franchise in history and a beloved global phenomenon.” The most recent of the iconic British spy films, Skyfall, was released in November last year and has made more than US$1 billion worldwide, setting a franchise record. Nominations for this year’s Academy Awards will be announced on Thursday. The Oscars will be presented on Feb. 24 in Los Angeles.

RUSSIA

Depardieu becomes Russian

French actor Gerard Depardieu has received a Russian passport and had dinner with President Vladimir Putin, Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said yesterday. Putin had earlier granted citizenship to Depardieu after the French movie star said he was quitting his homeland to avoid paying a new millionaires’ tax. Depardieu “was handed his passport,” Peskov told reporters. However, the president did not personally hand over the document to the actor when the two met on Saturday at Putin’s residence in the Black Sea resort town of Sochi, the president’s spokesman said. “There was a short meeting,” he said, but declined to give further details.

FRANCE

Family dies in plane crash

A Moroccan family of five returning home died on Saturday when their plane crashed shortly after taking off from an airport near the French Alps, officials said. The twin-engine plane hit a hill and crashed in a forest in an uninhabited area outside Grenoble, a city that is the gateway to the Alpine resorts in the southeastern part of the country. Local government official Bruno Charlot said that all five passenger onboard died. The pilot was flying his wife and their three children home to Morocco, apparently after taking them on a vacation in the country. The plane took off on Saturday afternoon from Grenoble’s airport and quickly disappeared off the radar. Charlot said the weather had been clear and that an investigation was underway to determine the cause of the crash.